Dubbo College has proudly claimed to be the standout rugby league side in the Astley Cup and their dominance of the tri-school tournament continued on Friday.
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Despite giving away a stack of penalties Dubbo proved far too good for Orange High School at Caltex Park and won 36-8.
“We started really strong and then it was a bit of a strange game and we were really well penalised,” coach Craig May said.
“We had to do a lot of defence but 36-8 was a good result.”
Despite the loss, Orange coach Ben Callaway was pleased with his side’s performance.
The Orange High team was a vastly younger one but the team in black and yellow showed plenty of promise.
“I’m pretty happy with effort and we’ve got a lot of young under-16s players so I was pretty stoked with the result,” Callaway said.
“They never dropped their heads and tried until the very end so very happy with the effort.”
Three tries in the opening 20 minutes, all converted by towering winger Strath Munro, got Dubbo out to an 18-0 lead.
Luke Gale then produced an outstanding individual run to set up a 24-0 lead before Orange hooker Tye Pollack scored his side’s first right on halftime.
Dubbo began the second half the better and it took just seven minutes before Couley grabbed his second by shrugging off a number of defenders and powering across the line.
Then in the space of five minutes centre Tyson Fuller scored a quickfire double to really take the game out of reach at 36-4.
Orange had plenty of possession late on and were rewarded with a consolation try through Josh Punivai.
May hailed Jackson Bonham-Phair and Zaiden Britt as standouts for their efforts in guiding the Dubbo side around but there were no doubts the forwards, led by Couley, Chapman and John Ciappara, led their side to victory.
“Clayon is always very dominant when he runs the ball and he’s hard to contain and is good in defence,” May said.
“John Ciappara, our captain, led the way really well but Jaidyn Chapman has only been back a couple weeks and he was really strong.
“Riley Barker had good footwork in the second row so really good work.”
Pollack was one of Orange’s best from dummyhalf while Mitch Leonard worked tirelessly at centre.
DUBBO COLLEGE 36 (Clayon Couley 2, Tyson Fuller 2, Jaidyn Chapman, Dalton Medcalf, Luke Gale; Strath Munro 4 goals) defeated ORANGE HIGH SCHOOL 8 (Tye Pollack, Josh Punivai tries)
Nick Guthrie
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
